Civilization's Guest
by EphemeralSummers
Summary: When an eleven year old boy is discovered outside the wall with no memory and no special abilities, the Scout Regiment is left to discover what series of events could have possibly allowed his existence outside their protective walls. Slight romance themes later. Rated T for possible language and violence.
1. Prologue

Hello everyone,

EphemeralSummers here. I just finished watching Attack on Titan and I absolutely fell in love with it. I loved it so much, I wanted to make a fic about it. Just a note here to say that this fic follows the anime, and when the plot approaches the end of the anime I will most likely start following the manga.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to be able to update every Thursday. I really hope you enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Attack on Titan or any of the songs mentioned at the bottom of each chapter.**

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Prologue

_Am I dreaming?_

The boy looked around. The clearing was rather small and it was the first piece of open land he had encountered in miles. In the amount of time he had been traveling, he had almost forgotten what the sky looked like. He felt the familiar prickling of rain drops hitting his skin and he looked down to watch the droplets roll over his arms. The forest had been so densely filled with trees he had not even been aware that it was raining until that point. He stared at the ground. He noticed that the grass was slowly becoming saturated with water, and he concluded that the rain had started fairly recently. It wouldn't be long now until puddles dotted the surface of the clearing.

_Or is this my existence?_ He wondered as he sat down, deciding to give his legs a rest.

He had been walking for so long, and his legs were beginning to tremble with exhaustion. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time that he wasn't walking. _What a shameful existence that would be,_ he thought to himself, _a life full of walking._ He glanced downward toward his bare feet and noticed that the rain, which was now a complete downpour, was washing away the blood and dirt that had accumulated on the soles of his feet. Now that he was free to think for a moment, he noticed the intense agony that his feet were causing him, and maybe it would be a good idea to rest now.

But when he glanced back toward the path he had come from, a note of fear struck him again. There would never be enough distance between him and the place where he had come from, so he attempted to get up and continue walking. However, as soon as he tried to stand up, his legs trembled and he collapsed to the ground. He didn't have a choice, the clearing would have to serve as his resting point.

He laid his head down and began to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing in and out. In and out. In and out. He continued to focus on breathing until he lowered his heart rate to a suitable level. Fear was not something he had the luxury to feel; he only had time for survival, and in order to survive he had to rest.

_I will move again as soon as my legs are able,_ he told himself, _and for now I will wait. Is this my reality? _

He couldn't help but wonder if this was his world. He listened intensely for possible clues, but he only heard the sounds he was familiar with. Distantly, there was the sound of a fox digging its burrow. Somewhere off to the side of the clearing, he heard a rabbit darting across an open path. There were sounds everywhere. A family of deer wading through the grass. A flock of birds rustling in the trees. Rain tapping against the ground.

Suddenly, all of the sounds stopped. A new sound erupted through the forest; the indisputable sound of splitting wood. The boy listened to the dying gasp of a tree as the wood bent and turned against its will. Finally, the deafening crash could be heard throughout the forest as a tree collapsed. Then, everything was quiet for a moment. After a moment though, more thunderous noises ensued. They continued to occur in a rhythmic fashion, gradually approaching the boy. The ground began to quake with each individual eruption of noise, and it was only until they were nearly upon him that he noticed what they were: footsteps.

Cautiously the boy opened one eye, and what he saw surprised him so much he let out a small gasp. When he looked up, he saw nothing but skin. When his vision adjusted, he realized that a huge, magnificent creature stood before him. The creature stood at roughly five meters tall, and its size seemed to blot out the sun entirely. The world grew dark for the boy in the presence of such a creature, and when it stared at him with its large, gray eyes he finally understood.

_This is not the world I was born into. This is merely a dream. _

For a moment, the boy decided to gaze up into the creature's eyes. The creature's face was rather impressive to the boy. It possessed all of the qualities of a face the boy could think of - it had eyes, a nose, cheekbones, a mouth, a chin, a forehead, and so many other small details, but its size was simply overwhelming. He could not fathom how such an intricate face that was so large could exist. The creature bent down to examine him closer, and the boy noticed how absolutely remarkable the creature was. This sort of creature, the boy believed, was just too remarkable to exist.

_I am dreaming. _

The boy closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. He felt that if he fell asleep now, he would awaken in his true reality. He was also too exhausted to think to do anything else, and it wouldn't be too long until sleep took him away from this strange world.

Just as he was nodding off, another sound stirred his memories. He heard more footfalls, except this time they were faster, and there were more of them. The vibrations were sent through the earth and when they reached his ears they were just a soft whisper. The sound continued to tickle at his semi-conscious brain, and just as he was on the border of consciousness he remembered where he had heard such a sound before.

_Horses maybe,_ he thought as he was pulled into the depths of sleep.

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_"It's all a mystery, let it come and let it be," - Blackmill, Let it Be_


	2. Chapter 1

Good Evening friends, EphermeralSummers here!

Sorry for the early update, but I've decided to update as I complete chapters. So, updates will be sporadic... but I hope that's okay. At max, updates will be a week apart, but hopefully they'll come sooner!

I didn't mention it before, but this is my first story, so please review with comments. All are appreciated! Thank you as usual, and please enjoy :)

So many follows and favorites too, so thank you for that too!

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Chapter 1

"A Boy's Defense"

The team worked together like lightning. At the head of the brigade, Commander Shadis screamed instructions to his soldiers. The horses charged like thunder, and it wasn't long until more titans were upon them. They hadn't had a peaceful moment in hours, and he was starting to panic. Commander Shadis knew that venturing outside the wall was risky, but when he looked at the remains of his broken team, he couldn't find the value in leaving the wall anymore. The Scout Regiment was in shambles. It didn't seem to matter how hard they worked or what amazing soldiers they were anymore. The fact was always the same – the titans would always best them.

"Ahead," he heard his second-in-command, Erwin Smith, call out from behind him. "A five meter titan, standing directly in the middle of our path."

Commander Shadis looked up to see the massive creature. "Engage on my order," he commanded his soldiers. "Remember how we practiced!"

When the titan was within range, Shadis gave the order to engage. First, scouts would use their omnidirectional gear to distract the titan from the sides. Then, while the titan was distracted, the others would attack and go for the kill. The attack on the five meter started seamlessly, but the titan quickly moved into a clearing in the forest. Shadis cursed quietly under his breath, open land was the best possible counter to their omnidirectional movement gear; the titan now had the advantage.

The terrible creature violently swung its arm to the left and came into contact with a stray soldiers' gear. The soldier flung outward with the force of the violent blow and slammed into a nearby tree. A crushing sound erupted, and Shadis knew that it was unlikely the soldier had survived such a devastating attack.

"Quick!" Shadis yelled to the remaining soldiers, "Hit its weak spot!"

Suddenly, Erwin leapt from his horse and within moments he was upon the titan. He screamed something at the titan, but before the awful creature had any time to react, Erwin had sliced a deep cut directly into the nape of the being's neck. The monster crashed to the ground and rumbled the earth beneath it.

_A kill,_ the commander thought to himself, _one kill for humanity._ He glanced around at his remaining comrades, and at the corpse that was now lying next to the tree. _But at what cost? _Before he had time to answer his own question, a shout erupted from somewhere in his ranks.

"There's someone over here!" A voice he recognized as Petra's yelled. "There's someone breathing over here!"

Shadis looked up instantly; there was no possible explanation for what Petra had just exclaimed. It was more than probable that she had just mistook one of their fallen comrades as someone else, but Shadis could only hope for something more than that. If Petra had found another human being, outside the wall, then that meant so many things that were just speculation before were now possible. It would be possible for them to leave. Everyone in the town would talk about how the Scout Regiment was useful after all. The Scout Regiment would be humanity's heroes once again, and humanity would be able to rebuild.

"Clear out," Shadis said quietly to the crowd that had gathered around Petra and the unknown subject. "Let me see what's going on."

The crowd backed away obediently, and Shadis gasped. There, neatly nestled in Petra's caring arms, was a small boy who couldn't have been more than eleven years old. He seemed perfectly unharmed, not a single hair out-of-place. Shadis looked at the boy intensely, searching for a clue that could have led to his survival outside of the walls, but there was none. The boy was impeccably average - he had a boring shade of brown hair, and his physique was typical of a boy his age. When the boy began to open his eyes, Shadis noted that his eyes were a deep brown too. There was nothing even moderately interesting about the boy, and as far as Shadis knew, mediocrity would never turn a titan off from a meal.

"What's your name, boy?" Shadis barked at the waking boy.

The boy looked up at him with curious eyes. "I don't know," the boy answered. "I'm afraid I don't know who I am or what this place is."

Petra looked at Shadis, and then back at the boy. "Sir, I don't feel a questioning is in order at the moment. We need to take him back to headquarters. He's no threat to humanity; he's just a boy." Petra held the boy a little closer to herself and looked back at Shadis again. "Please sir, we've lost enough for one day."

Shadis considered her for a moment. He had an uncanny ability to see how a person was just by meeting them, but something about the boy seemed strange. Although Shadis knew that it was unlikely such a small, ordinary boy could cause any harm, it was always best to play it safe.

"Wrap him up in one of our spare uniforms. If we bring him back, the Military Police won't like the public asking questions." Shadis sighed, "They don't need another reason to dislike us. He'll ride with you, Petra."

"Yes sir," Petra agreed, visibly relieved. Shadis knew that she only had the boy's safety in mind, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy by his decision. When everyone, including the small boy, had been packed up and ready to go, Shadis mounted his horse and moved to the front of the group.

"Petra," he called toward the back.

"Yes, sir?" She answered, trotting up to him, with the boy clinging to her back.

"Stay in the middle, towards the back, of the formation. It's the safest place." Petra nodded and moved to where he had instructed. Without another word, Shadis tugged on his reins and the horses began to sprint forward in unison.

_Will this help us?_ Shadis wondered, thinking back to the boy they found in the clearing. He had no memories, not even a name to go by. _Where could he have come from?_ Shadis knew that he couldn't have originated from inside the walls. The walls were as much of a cage as they were protective. If someone wanted to leave, they had to become a part of the Scout Regiment, and nobody ever wanted to leave to begin with.

_He had to have come from somewhere else, but does that mean that other humans are living too?_ Shadis had always thought about it, but mostly late at night when everyone else was fast asleep. One of the reasons he had originally joined the Regiment was because he was sick of feeling so alone. There had to have been other humans who made it, they couldn't be the only ones.

Suddenly, a scream erupted from somewhere in the formation, and Shadis looked back to see ten titans stampeding toward the group. Shadis knew right then and there, this would be the end of the Scout Regiment.

Shadis knew the citizens behind the walls would hang their heads in sorrow as their grieving families wept in the street. He also knew that during silent nights and in quiet corners the taxpayers would secretly rejoice at the cut expense. Families of current recruits would weep with joy as the safety of their sons and daughters was momentarily assured. To them, a hundred years of peace would turn into a hundred more without the Scout Regiment meddling in the outside world.

But Shadis also knew that if they died here and now, so would humanity. The Scout Regiment was humanity's wings of freedom, and if the Regiment was decimated, so was humanity's chance at survival.

"Petra!" he heard a frantic voice shout, "What are you doing?"

Shadis looked to his left to see Petra break formation and dart off to the side of the crowd. He then watched in utmost horror as all ten titans diverged from chasing the group to chasing Petra. Shadis knew that Petra had only broken formation in the hopes of saving the boy from being devoured by titans, but she had only drawn attention to herself.

"Hey, you lumbering oafs!" Another voice echoed from the crowd, as a soldier fired a flare directly at a titan. It hit the titan square in the nose, but the titan seemed completely unaffected by the flare.

"You dumb giants, chase us instead!" Another soldier shouted as he also fired a flare at a titan, but it also had no effect. The titans seemed only focused on Petra and the boy, and they were starting to run faster.

The boy on Petra's horse didn't seem as terrified as everyone else though, Shadis noticed. Instead he calmly looked left and right, and then finally he looked behind him. But when the boy looked at the titans, he didn't show the fear that Shadis was accustomed to new recruits showing. Instead, he sported a completely composed, blank expression as he removed the green hood of the Scout uniform from his head. It wasn't the fierce, composed determination of an experienced soldier, but the calm expression that often accompanied ignorance. It was possible, Shadis concluded, that the boy wasn't lying. He really knew nothing of the titans, or of humanity's near extinction. He was the first blissfully unaware human being since the titan's first appearance.

However, when the boy removed his hood, a change spread through the chasing titans. For the first time, Shadis saw an expression other than bloodlust on a titan's face, but he couldn't quite discern what the expression was. Slowly, one by one, each titan slowed its pace to a walk, and then they all turned away and began to roam as if nothing had happened. The entire Scout Regiment just watched the disappearing titans in awe, and Shadis saw the boy put his hood back on and rest his head on Petra's back.

It was a long while before anyone in the Regiment said another word. By the time someone spoke again, it was to inform the Regiment that they were within two miles of the wall and it was okay to decrease the pace down to a trot. They were in the safe zone again, and it was okay to relax for a bit.

Shadis slowed his speed just enough to fall in line with Erwin and Levi. They exchanged quick glances and it was apparent that they were all on the same page.

"He could be dangerous," Shadis warned, "He can't explain where he comes from and he can't explain what he just did."

Erwin nodded in agreement, "But he could be useful."

Shadis nodded and Levi stared straight ahead. "The Military Police won't like this," Shadis said quietly, "they'll do what they can to get rid of them."

"To hell with those lousy cowards," Levi said curtly, "they wanted progress and we've brought it to them." Shadis and Erwin continued to stare straight ahead, all three of them knew the Military Police wouldn't handle the boy lightly.

"And if they think they can handle him better, I'll personally take responsibility for the boy. I'll train him myself," Levi added, looking off towards the gate, "No more needless deaths. Something good will come of this."

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_"Let's make this happen, girl, we're gonna show the world that something good can work, and it can work for you, and you know that it will," Something Good Can Work, Two Door Cinema Club_


End file.
